Where did Los Angeles get its name and What does “Los Angeles” mean in Spanish?

June 15, 2014 by Karen Hill | Filed Under: History

Now the largest city in California, Los Angeles was once a sleepy village on the Mexican frontier.

It was founded in 1781 by provincial governor Filipe de Neve. Like many Latinos to the present day, he revered the Virgin Mary, so he named the place El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles, Spanish for “the Village of Our Lady, the Queen of the Angels.”

Mexican Americans celebrate many religious holidays, some of them local events. The Festival of the Bells in San Diego, California, in July celebrates the founding of the Mission San Diego de Alcala in 1769.